Pandigital Novel - Android needs HACKING.

The Pandigital Novel is a 7 inch Resistive touchscreen E-Readerw with WIFI. However this is a Android 2.0 (yes 2.0, not 2.01) device that already we have been able to install other home apps (like LauncherPro, PandaHome, aHome etc.). There is only volume keys, and power switch, but a hack has been implemented to make the volume keys BACK, and MENU.

Market access isnt possible yet, but APKS can be installed through USB bridge, or on the SD CARD. I have Opera Mobile, Various Games, New Readers etc, and you can install other E-Reader software.

We have been unable to access bootloader, even from command line, currently the device does upgrades by putting the firmware on the external SD card. If we can install a custom RECOVERY and CUSTOM ROMS we could have any ANDROID 7 inch tablet for around $120 dollars.. Root has already been possible and I have SetCPU installed.

Just trying to see if I can get more people working on this.. Its quick to pick up since Kohl's and Bed Bath and Beyond both carry it.. And Its a pretty capable device for the price.... there is a small community that can be found on .:SlateDroid | Android Tablet Forum:. (although the page is down right now).

I just was at Kohl's and the Pandigital is $249.. So i suggest going to Bed Bath & Beyond.. Its $169.99 but they give you a 20% off coupon for signing up on their website (also seem to be available other places) and there is a $20 mail in rebate. So before tax its $135.99 with the 20% off and $115.99 after you mail your rebate in... check it out.

Come on.. anyone got one yet??? Just have to believe there is alot more potential here..

Thanks

CPG

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Thanks to your post, I picked one up at BB&B this weekend. Updated the firmware to S10_07_18K_PD_INX7E_ENG_6410POP. I hacked to modify volume button function (remapped to Menu/Back), and used ADB to install my favorite apps (LauncherPro, Dolphin, Astro, etc.). Still wasn't too impressed. Some concerns:

I was planning on taking it back, but noticed a new firmware today: S10_07_24_K_PD_INX7E_ENG_6410POP.

I've installed the latest firmware, and the improvement is pretty dramatic. The native slideshow still sucks, but I installed the Android 2.1 deskclock.apk, which has a nicer slideshow function. Touch response is MUCH better, and it feels more stable overall.

Also, a nice surprise: native clock speed has been increased from 550MHz to 800MHz. I installed systempanel, and it looks like the CPU automatically underclocks (no need to use an overclock app). Looks like the minimum clock speed is 66MHz.

So I'll definitely keep it for a week or two, and reassess. I'll chime back in here if I learn anything more!

-Matt

PS It looks like there are relatively few people who know about both the Augen (at KMart) and the Pandigital. I'd say it's a major no-brainer: for about the same price the Pandigital is 10x better.

The new firmware for PDN is good.
Now the CPU is running at
800MHz which I think Samsung smdk6410 has mentioned in datasheets, so no need to overclock using setCPU.
Also as "gadgetrants" mentioned the screen response is much better now, wifi is a little more stable as compared to 7/18 firmware (in the wifi settings page) click vol+ button to get the menu and then in settings click on "Never sleep").

We over at slatedroid.com now have the market working, and are engaged in an email campaign to get Pandigital to release the source code - looks like we may have done it, too. The market hack is a little complex and requires you to use the sdk to add market to an emulator, then manually get market onto the novel. I, obviously, am a huge fan of the PDN.

We over at slatedroid.com now have the market working, and are engaged in an email campaign to get Pandigital to release the source code - looks like we may have done it, too. The market hack is a little complex and requires you to use the sdk to add market to an emulator, then manually get market onto the novel. I, obviously, am a huge fan of the PDN.

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Welcome lawman! Good to see I'm not the only one visiting both forums.

I installed the Google Experience package last night, and it's working pretty well (it was cool to see Google Maps use realtime location). For the time being, I don't mind downloading apps on my Droid and copying them over to the PDN. But that'd be cool if we could get 2.0 or 2.1 working completely.

This sounds pretty great. You guys think this will ever be stable enough to handle hulu, or other video playback capabilities, or is the hardware just not there in this device?

Reason I'm asking is because I would like something simple for surfing/word doc/occasional movies/shows to use in conjunction with my laptop for when I'm at work/travel/hell even at home.

The ipad would actually be quite ideal, but hey, we don't all have 500 bucks to throw around.

What's it like typing on these types of screens?
I have alot of textbooks in PDF format, will this be able to open them? It would be sweet to be able to use their book reader to open PDAs and then use the highlight/ add text functions.

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